When it comes to college basketball, it’s hard to find a more polarizing player in the history of the sport than former Duke star Christian Laettner.
Need proof?
ESPN recently released a documentary (part of its ‘30 For 30’ series) titled ‘I Hate Christian Laettner.’
Laettner was in Minneapolis over the first weekend of March Madness, which was fitting being that the Timberwolves were the team that drafted him back in 1992 with the third overall pick. Laettner was in town helping the Timberwolves Basketball Academy with a few camps.
This isn’t the first time Laettner has assisted the Timberwolves with camps. Back in 2011 during the NBA lockout, Laettner received a call from Jeff Munneke, Timberwolves Vice President of Fan Experience and Timberwolves Basketball Academy.
“They couldn’t use their players. So Munneke and Steve Brown (Basketball Academy Manager) got in touch with me... They brought me up like four or five times in one summer,” Laettner said. “That was a lot of fun and I guess they liked what I did for them and I always like coaching and teaching basketball, so every time they asked me to come to Minneapolis, it’s always immediately yes.”
Laettner played with the Timberwolves from 1992 to 1996.
Many might not remember, but Laettner had his best statistical seasons in Minnesota. In four seasons, he averaged 17.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He was probably a player before his time as he had the ability to play inside out and was a great passer for a big guy. Today, he’d probably be one of the better “stretch 4s” in the NBA.
While Minnesota was just a small chapter in his NBA career, it remains a big part of his book of life.
Laettner, who now lives in Jacksonville, lived in Stillwater and Mound - where he met his wife.
“I love spending time up here. I love Muskie fishing in the summer time,” Laettner said. “… People don’t know how awesome Minnesota is… I love it up here. And when I was playing up here, I loved every second of it, even if it was minus 20 degrees.”
The former Dukie had plenty of other things to say ranging from March Madness, his camps and the recent documentary.
March – The Month Of Laettner
While he had a nice NBA career, Laettner will always be remembered more for his career at Duke. Laettner played four years at Duke (something that’s unheard of now) and averaged 21.5 points per game during his senior season. He was named a Second-Team All-American during his junior year and a First Team All-American during his senior year. He won back-to-back NCAA championships with Duke in 1991-92. Florida is the only team to win back-to-back titles since.
He’s probably most famous for “The Shot” that he hit to give Duke a win over the Kentucky Wildcats in the 1992 East Regional Final.
“Every March, things pick up a little bit because people start showing the shot and the game and all that stuff,” Laettner said. “l’ll be in Indianapolis for the Final Four.”
If you check out Laettner’s Twitter feed, it’s obvious he still follows his alma mater very closely. Most of the time, he’s rocking Duke apparel or something with that Duke blue color.
Speaking Of The Shot…
The documentary ‘I Hate Christian Laettner’ was incredibly well received and despite the title, it actually tells the perspective of the fans (who disliked him) and Laettner himself.
Laettner was loved and hated as a college basketball player. A lot of that “hate” stemmed from his talent level and also a few things that he said and did as a player in his young 20’s.
“I don’t need you to love me, I don’t want you to hate me, but just don’t judge a book by its cover,” Laettner, now 45 years old, said. “I’m different now than I was 20 years old. Those were things that really got across in the movie, so I really appreciate that.”
You can watch the full documentary here if you haven’t seen it yet.
Laettner said that the response from people has been very positive and he’s even had a few people tell him that maybe they didn’t really hate him as much as they thought.
“They don’t do it as much face-to-face as they do on Twitter where there’s no one-on-one interaction,” Laettner said with a smile. “Overall, the response has been incredibly positive.”
More Camps In The Future?
Chances are high that Laettner will be back in the Minneapolis area eventually to help the Wolves out with more camps. Laettner also has his own basketball academy, the Christian Laettner Basketball Academy.
While his camps in his time in Minnesota were shorter than some of his others, he hopes the campers took a lot of positives from the 150-minute camp.
“Let them see the passion you have for the game,” Laettner said. “It’s easier to work hard when you’re passionate about what you’re doing.”
Laettner’s passion for the sport has taken him a lot of places throughout his life and extraordinarily enough, at 45 years old, he’s still very relevant in the basketball world.